When I was a younger teenager I did a lot of shopping at the plus sized stores, and I hated it. I was always ostracized because my clothes were fashionable for older women. Lately I’ve been lucky with Old Navy. The jeans, regular, fit well for length. Otherwise? Doesn’t happen much. Pants are too short, or if I buy at tall girl my inseam is too short! (Tall Girl starts at 36", most stores seem to average 30"-32" inseam and my inseam? 33 and odd quarter inches… thank goodness their tailor doesn’t cost much, I recently bought a suit there and got it tailored and it fits soo nice…).
Some of these stories sound so damn frustrating. And as far as ‘high end’ designers are concerned, women should be dieting, padding and girdling themselves to fit the clothes. I’ve had a slightly similar experience finding big shoes. Okay, lemme see… sevens, eights cute… good, good… nines, cute… ten-and-a-halfs – will that be brown loafers or taupe orthopedic running shoes?
I remember Mia Tyler, a plus-sized model (and Liv’s half-sister), saying she shopped for clothes at fashionable maternity stores since so much plus-sized clothing is made to make women fade into the background or look like a crazy Bingo player.
Do they fit without trying them on?
I ask because my daughter took me shopping for jeans (not Wal-mart, which is where my last pair came from). I wanted to try the ones with a 36 waist (my waist is 35 - I measured it. 35.) My daughter picked out one pair with a 34 waist, which was too big, one with a 38 waist that was too small, and two pair with 36 waist, one of which was too big and the other too small.
I wound up with a pair which was a 38 waist (and a 32 inseam, which was the right length, unlike the other 32 inseams which were not).
And don’t get me started on shirts for a person with a 17" neck and a 46" chest that don’t have room for the whole family in the waist. They don’t exist.
Regards,
Shodan
I agree with all of the frustrations here but the one that drives me right up the wall is the clingy fabric. So I will pick up a shirt that is my size and looks pretty and it clings to me in places I do not want it to cling. I am picky on what clings where, thankyouverymuch. I don’t understand why larger sized clothes have to be clingy.
I hate shopping and this is why. Even when I was 117 pounds and slimmer than everyone in my dance class I could never find anything to fit right because I was broad-shouldered and didn’t have a dainty little figure. And now that I am nowhere near 117 pounds I can’t find anything because I HAVE BROAD SHOULDERS and so everything either is too tight or hangs on me in a funny way.
I am going to stop this now, before I get on the unicorns and glittery crap. .If I continue with this much longer I am going to start hyperventilating.
You will pry my Torrid pants from my cold, dead hands. I’m Canadian, and I drop about $400 a year on pants from their online store (usually twice a year shopping spree) and pay out the ass for shipping, but it’s so worth it. We have our own plus-sized retailer here (Penningtons/Additionelle) which is great for shirts. However, their pants are built under the assumption that if you need a big waist, your legs are as wide as your torso. It looks like I’m wearing Hammerpants. I especially like looser fabrics to stiff denim, so add in the hot-air balloon look. Tripp actually tailors their pants so that they are form-fitting. Look everyone, I have an ass and thighs! Not just fabric draping down the back of me!
I was watching “What Not to Wear” a couple of weeks ago, and the woman being featured noted that she hated shopping at Lane Bryant, etc. Of course, the hosts said that the stuff she was picking out elsewhere just didn’t fit. Since she was large busted, she should be picking tops that fit her chest, and getting them tailored to fit the rest of her, as opposed to picking tops that fit her waist, and looking like she’s busting out up top.
So, how much credence do you all put in this view? Their point was that it was better to pay $40 for a shirt and $20 for tailoring to make it look good, as opposed to a $60 top that doesn’t fit as well.
I don’t know about this view, but in my life, $60 is out of the question for one top! I don’t mean I can’t spend money for clothes if I need to but a $60 top would make me hyperventilate!
I just bought a beautiful turquoise mirrored blouse from Dress Barn. $9.99 because it was on sale. That’s the kind of price I’m looking for!
And tailoring is expensive. This is why the rich stay rich. It’s Vimes’ theory of money - if you pay $60 for the top in the first place you don’t replace it as often, but I can’t buy a $60 top, so I’m buying a $10 one more often. 
I saw that episode a while back! If it’s the same one, that woman is frickin’ HUGE on top. I somewhat agree with their mantra, that you buy clothes to fit the biggest part of you, but some things are easier to tailor than others. I’m wide around the bottom area, and getting things to fit around my bum means that I’ll have shoulder seams halfway down my arms. Shoulders don’t tailor easily - it’s not just a dart or taking in a seam.
What this woman was saying about basically being traumatized by having to shop in plus-size shops, I can totally relate to that. It’s all part of the rich tapestry of being overweight - no cute, pretty little clothes in cute, pretty little shops for you!
I’m not nearly as big chested as the girl on that show; she had breasts almost as big as her head, IIRC. I’m only a couple of cup sizes bigger than the manufacturers design the clothes and I have big shoulders, so going up a clothing size for button-down shirts is not a big deal. For tops with no fasteners, I generally can get away with wearing my actual size as long as it doesn’t have bust details/trim. I also have been more fortunate in that, if I look long enough, I can usually find something that fits well enough at a reasonable price; I rarely look frumpy or unintentionally slutty.
This sentence reminded me of the South Park that had Dog the Bounty Hunter and his breas…er…wife. The South Park rendition of her was fucking hilarious!
I cannot afford to have my clothes tailored, but I am very plus sized with a very plus sized chest. One of my favorite things to do is buy blouses that fit my waist…then I wear a tank top underneath. It does keeps me from looking frumpy. It may look a smidge, “slutty” to some, but I prefer to think of it as sexy.
I do that with a lot of low cut shirts. The cut of them is fine, but the neckline is just faaar too low and I am endowed enough that going braless is not an option like some girls I’ve seen in similar getups.
So I have a nice collection of cami’s in various colours to match under my too low-cut tops.
Hah. On one shopping trip, I came out with two collared shirts and two t-shirts: one was Large, two were XL, and one was XXL. They were all the same size. Also, by no stretch of the imagination could I be described as “extra, extra large.”
Earlier I had been shirt shopping at Simons (probably my first mistake). I thought oh, this is nice, faggy shirts are in fashion, I might find something I like. So I find this shirt I liked in my size and tried it on, only to find that it was really emphasizing things that don’t need to be emphasized. So I went to the clerk and politely asked what the hell is this, and he said, “Oh, it’s a semi-fitted shirt.” What this means is that it is concave. I, on the other hand, am convex. So I asked if they had this shirt in a straight cut, and he said, “No, we’re phasing that out.”
Oh, that’s fucking nice, you’re phasing out my body type.
Anyway, later on that week I went to the Salvation Army to buy a costume for a drag show I was going to be in, and there’s something wrong with the fact that it was easier, cheaper, faster, and more fun for me to find a dress that fit me than a man’s shirt.
Out of curiosity, do you wear the blouse open or buttoned? I do as you describe, and wear the blouse unbuttoned, which looks a lot more tidy and flattering on me than wearing a too-large blouse buttoned up, or trying to stuff myself into a smaller one.
What Not to Wear would love that! They’re always recommending camies for an extra punch of color or texture.
I like ELISABETH by Liz Claiborne for classier plus size stuff. And I have been to that hidden-away Macy’s section mentioned above and liked it a lot too. I did find a classic pants suit at LandsEnd.com but some of their cotton plus size stuff *swam * on me, and I am on the very hefty end of plus size. 
I just do it because I am extremely self conscious about showing too much skin (in day to day wear that is… bar gear is a whole other matter 
). I do it out of self defense so I’m not falling out the instant I bend over (which would look extremely unprofessional and you might be surprised how many blouses with a v neck are cut that low), and if I get the long cut camis then they peek out the bottom and bridge the gap between hem and waistband also! That’s a more casual look though.
If those were the two options - then sure, they’re right.
But the reality (for me at least) is closer to $40 for a top and $40 for tailoring (I have a weird body - making it fit would take a great deal of work) to make it look good or $25 for a top that doesn’t fit.
The $25 wins, because the tailored just doesn’t look $55 better.
Also, on that show - they don’t do a good job larger women - especially if the women don’t have hourglass shapes. Those women always end up looking frumpy in questionably fitting clothes after the makeover. So, their advice is questionable.
Welcome to adult woman hell - trying to find normal clothes that aren’t skintight, cut to come up to just slightly over your pubic hair, cut to have your butt crack hanging out and give you that extremely weird “roll of bum” look, cut to have your ankles showing in pants that obviously aren’t summer pants, cut to make your legs look like tree stumps, tops that have tiny little sleeves that look like they’re strangling your arms, et freakin’ cetera. Some of us just want nice new clothes that look normal. NORMAL, I SAY1!!
Heh. That tickles my funnybone.
When I was in high school and was required to wear uniforms, I’d often wear an Oxford shirt unbuttoned with a tank top underneath. Why not just the Oxford? I’d look like a giant unfeminine hulk because I had to buy things to cover my shoulders and bust. I tend not to do it as much these days because I’m lucky enough to find buttoned shirts that work well enough for me.
Although something like this is really pretty on me, I would have to wear a camisole underneath to keep from being seen as some crazy slut because of my cleavage. On second thought, depending on how low the top’s “waist” is fitted, my bust may not be constrained fully within the chest area. Nothing’s more awkward looking than someone whose boobs are hanging below the waistline of a top. 
That’s the sort of thing I wear camis under, though waists like that makes me look pregnant, even though I never looked pregnant while I was pregnant (as opposed to a cross-over style I have which is just as low cut and the rouching (sp?) hides the love handles) if I am lucky enough that my boobs don’t, as you say, hang below the waistline.